Unit Card:

Set - Rarity - Number

Set V - Rare - 12/39

History:

Reviews:

HushPuppy
The Essex is the physical incarnation of American air power. Like her sister the USS Intrepid, she can base 4 units of aircraft on her, making her a platform to launch airstrikes on anything and everything that stands in her way. Expert Bomber 2 allow for SBD Dauntlesss or SB2C Helldivers to be battleship crackers (though they are one even by themselves), and Replenish aircraft means that you can bring that destroyed aircraft hated by your opponent back to life (Avengers, Hellcats, etc…)

Her only down side is that she offers little to the planes based on her. Compared to other US carriers, she lacks the expert dogfighter seen on others such as the USS Saratoga . Still though, all in all, another great unit for the United States.

fredmiracle
The beautiful thing about the Essex is the Replenish Aircraft SA. A major problem with carrier-based builds at low point levels is that if one of your aircraft is shot down early in the game by a lucky shot, it can drastically reduce your odds of winning. You can hedge your build against this, but the result is often to waste a lot of points on "extra" bombers that only fly every other turn, and don't fit into your 4-aircraft attack packages. Or to settle for a much less capable back-up, like a Vindicator. Essex gives you a more cost-effective way to hedge, since it cuts the odds of ending up in this kind of hole by half.